The Atlas Corporation
by CemeterySmoke
Summary: The war with Voldemort has passed. Choosing to spread his wings beyond wizarding world embracing his potential and power. Seeking to establish himself as one of the world's mightiest in the twilight of the age of heroes It's a brave new world and the Master of Death wants it to survive. Atlas Corp. is born with Harry Potter at its helm.
1. You Dare?

**A/N** This story is entirely for fun. What's a plot? I will shamelessly abuse every cliché, steal, kill, bestow insane abilities, AU characters, rewrite the law and logic as I see fit. It shall mostly focus on the Marvel Cinematic Universe. However I am 150% open to suggestions, you have an idea of a character that would be fun, pm me. Especially villains. Everything from the Marvel and HP universe is fair game. DC female characters if you can make a case for them, I don't know much about that verse. I shall also be shamelessly ripping plenty of weaponry from the Halo verse's ODST, no Spartans or Forerunners. Had to draw the line somewhere. If your head is hurting by the time your done reading I'm happy. If you want something less crazy I invite you to check out my other stories. Harry is not invincible, he's somewhere between Thor and Thanos power level wise. He doesn't usually use such power levels, as higher beings will sense him. See my profile for link to uncensored version

Harry, Ron, and Hermione are walking on the damaged Viaduct after Voldemort's death

"Why didn't it work for him? The Elder Wand?" Hermione asked.

"It answered to somebody else. When he killed Snape, he thought the Wand would become his, but the thing is, the Wand never belonged to Snape. It was Draco who disarmed Dumbledore that night at the Astronomy Tower. From that moment on, the Wand answered to him, until... the other night, when I disarmed Draco at Malfoy Manor."

With a look of awe Ron asked, "So that means..."

"It's mine."

"What do you reckon we should do with it?"

"We?" Hermione questioned.

"I'm just saying, that's the Elder Wand, the most powerful wand in the world. With that, we'd be invincible."

"It's Harry's Ronald. He is the one that fought Voldemort, he disarmed Malfoy."

Harry, after thinking for a moment, breaks the Wand in two. Suddenly smoke billows out of the wand and when it cleared Harry was gone.

"You'd dare destroy my wand mortal? The Oracle may have yet spoken the truth. The Marked Warrior shall bring about the destruction of the Hallow. Voldemort chose poorly that day. None of that matters now. A greater destiny awaits."

Harry suddenly felt afraid for the first time since he'd begun his journey. For the voice that he heard shook him to his very core, it belonged to no mortal.

Die, Harry…. Let go and embrace death, release thy mortal coil…

"What in the name of Merlin …" Harry whispered. "The elder wand…"

Death gave a dry laugh and Harry felt the pull on his very soul as he was yanked up off the ground.

Let go, Harry… Death hissed in his ear.

Harry glared at the daunting being…and pushed himself to his feet.

"Harry," the old man said. "Look at me."

Harry looked. He hadn't noticed it before. It was the old man who had been described in the story of the three brothers, but it couldn't be, right?

"You…." Harry gasped. "Who are you..?"

"I am your savior, Harry- and, your greatest enemy. I am the Harbinger of doom, The Ender Of Lives, The Reaper Of Kings, Destroyer of Worlds, The Last, but for this conversation you may refer to me simply as Death."

"You lie," Harry spat.

The old man smiled.

"Never the astute one, eh Harry," he said. Then he lay a single finger on Harry's arm, "Feel my power."

Harry sat up, clenching his teeth at the pain shooting up through his right arm, his body unable to handle the power of the cosmic entity. He would fight this man if he had to. He might be magically weak at the moment, but he hadn't survived Voldemort to die now.

"What…what do you want from me?" Harry asked him. Perhaps if he could lure the man into thinking he was weak…

The man chuckled amiably.

"Look here, Harry," he said and pulled out three gray objects from his robes. The objects were shrouded in darkness. Then as it cleared Harry saw them for what they were. The Deathly Hollows.

"What deception is this?" Harry demanded.

"The best kind," the old man said. "If you think you have finished your quest, Harry, you are sorely mistaken. I had planned to grant a boon to the one who managed to gather my Hallows, but you arrogant mortal tried to DESTROY ONE!" Harry found himself once again blown down to his knees.

Harry struggled to his feet.

The old man titled the hand that held the Hallows so that they one at a time fell onto the ground. The resurrection stone, the wand, the cloak. With a wave of the old man's hand they all slammed into Harry disappearing into his body, a glowing gold tattoo appearing just over his heart and a similar black one on his right wrist. The tattoo was of a symbol some would recognize as the mark of the Hallows.

"What have you done to me"

The old man frowned.

"Hm, perhaps you need a lesson in manners boy. You won't need them any longer, there essence is part of you and ties you to me."

"I don't want to be tied to you! I'm finally free of Fumbledore and Tom 'Daddy Issues' Riddle and already someone else is trying to tie me down!"

"You may think you are special because the fates chose you, but you are a worthless mortal, you will learn your place. The dark has been entrenched there for centuries, many of which managed some form or another of bastardized immortality. No mere human is allowed to live forever, the minds can't handle it and they dissolve into madness. That is unless, like you, they have my blessing."

"Tom's reach extended far beyond those that showed up at the battle of Hogwarts. Luckily you destroying his soul jars caused him to prematurely play his hand. Your people celebrate thinking all is well yet your ministry is in shambles and few understand how fragile your world is. I have blessed you with a silver of my power, and you shall carry out the task I am about to set forth."

"And if I don't"

"I shall drag every Potter to have ever lived soul back from the afterlife and all the living souls you care about to the Prison of the Damned in the 9th circle of hell and personally torture them for an eternity as you watch. There they will learn where the inspiration for the Old Testament was," Death said with a smile that was the picture of innocence and purity eerily graced its face. "Do you accept?"

"Not like that's much of a choice but yes"

Everything in Harry's world flickered black for a few moments. As his vision cleared, he noticed that he no longer needed glasses and his eyesight had improved to what he was sure was superhuman levels and there was the most strange wand he had ever seen in his hand. It appeared to be made of some unholy black alloy that sucked was so dark it seemed to suck in all light around it. No special markings upon it, just a solid foot long tube.

"What do you know about power Harry?" Death asked.

"It's something I lack in this world."

A chuckle was the response he received.

"Very true. Yet from a young age I felt a yearning in you. The thirst was there, a desire to have the power to get away from the Dursley's. Power to resist your cousin. Power to make your own decisions. Yet you attempted to ignore the desire when you went to Hogwarts, and a craving built up in you. Why limit yourself to your family when the wizarding world is at your feet for the taking.

"I have no desire to be another Voldemort."

"You miss my point. I feel it you. You despise people taking advantage of you, yet that's exactly what will happen if you attempt to refuse me. They will shuffle you into the Auror Corps where you will be held firmly under the Ministry's thumb. There is no one left to protect you in this world of yours; Bones is dead, Snape is dead, McGonagall is a doormat most of the time, Dumbledore is dead, the Lupins are dead, your friends have no political power. Only you can save yourself There have always been power centers in the Wizarding world. Wizards of extraordinary ability to whom other's gravitated like a moth to a flame. Admittedly many of them haven't been the most stable of individuals, I'm sure you've noticed the wizarding world lacks in common sense and has a strong penchant for oddities. Each and every generation has had one such wizard. Most recently it would be the former Headmaster of Hogwarts, Albus Dumbledore. Prior to his rise was Gellert Grindlewald. Even further back Alphard Black, didn't you ever wonder how the Black family acquired it's monumental wealth?"

"Never really occurred to me to question it, everyone keeps saying there old money."

"Hmm. Reasonable. All these wizards were equally revered and feared. Albus realized Gellert's overt methods of exercising his power was flawed, hence why he choose to become the Headmaster of the most prestigious and influential school in the country. Shaping the minds and magic of consecutive generations to his vision of the world. There was no need for him to become Minister of Magic when a puppet like Fudge was in charge. From a comfortable seat at Hogwarts he was shaping the social fabric of Wizarding Society and avoiding all the tedious administrative work."

"You do have a point there. I remember Hagrid mentioning the former minister called him for advice all the time."

"Kingsley Shacklebolt has taken control of what personal is left of the Ministry and is attempting to take back the building. It has been a day and it's a good time for your reappearance. First go to Gringotts and claim the Pevrell family headship, show them the mark on your wrist. In the 12th century the father of the three Pevrell brothers took over the gold trade from the Empire of Ghana before his demise when he headed east and joined Genghis Khan's campaign. You will find enough gold and muggle currency in those vaults to buy off the entire wizarding world several times over. Luckily for you Voldemort in his rage killed all the Goblins who know you were the one to break into Bellatrix's vault so you shant have a problem there.

"Thank Voldemort for small favors, I was concerned that may be a …problem"

"More than you know. Nevertheless with my power, you shall eclipse all in terms of sheer power. You have one directive from me be great, the preeminent and exalted figure of your line. You have power and in your friends and the DA you have followers. There are many more ready to follow your lead if you know to reach them. Dumbledore had prepared the stage for to put Kingsley himself in the position of power. Fortunately for you, his premature death lead him to make one small but crucial mistake. He never in informed any of his 'associates' who they were expected to follow. His personal 'lessons' he gave you can easily be used to get them to see you as his chosen heir, the inordinate amount of interest he took in you will only aid that belief. The world is yours for the taking Harry Potter do not disappoint.

"I understand."

"You'll reappear in the Ministry Atrium, it's empty so don't worry about being disturbed. I do not expect us to meet again for a very long time. Now **begone**."

* * *

\- - - - - Atlas - - - - -

* * *

The Atrium of the Ministry of Magic was quiet for the first time since the second rise of Voldemort. The once busy center of wizard politics, an institution that had grown and evolved since the enactment of the Statue of Secrecy, was eerily deserted. Where once stood Fountain of Magical Brethren was now Umbridge's half destroyed Magic is Might monument. Not to say it had been abandoned, were on to enter the Department of Magical Law Enforcement they would find it a literal nest of commotion, everyone out to try to accomplish some mission or another. Kingsley Shacklebolt had stepped in and taken control of the Ministry after the collapse of the previous administration. The day following the Battle of Hogwarts Kingsley had pressured Harry into accompanying him to the Ministry as he wrangled control of it under pretenses of he needed new scenery away from somewhere he'd seen so much lost. Conveniently forgetting the Ministries consistent attempts to discredit him since the Triwizard tournament. In hindsight, he didn't believe they had ever considered him to be more than an instrument of convenience.

Silently Harry disapparated and reappeared in Diagon Alley. It was still fairly abandoned, he figured the Daily Prophet hadn't gone out yet and the wizarding world wasn't yet aware of the defeat of Voldemort and his Death Eaters. With that thought, he made his way to the imposing white

marble building.

As he stepped onto the floor of Gringotts the guards inclined their heads slightly to him. He headed up to a free Goblin and gave a small cough to announce his presence. Instead of the goblin's usual glare toward everyone, unhappy to be there, he quickly got down from his stood and came to the front to bow to Harry.

"Mr. Potter," he said quietly. "I'll collect a private advisor for you," he said, quickly heading into the backrooms of Gringotts.

Harry didn't really think he needed one. He only wanted to claim what was in the vault. Gold was gold, no need to go into the vaults. Plus he didn't know much about finance so he was content letting them continue managing it as they had been.

A goblin advisor came rushing up to Harry a few seconds later with the goblin following behind him. He bowed slightly. "Mr. Potter, how may we help you today" he greeted.

"I need to claim a vault."

"Old or new vault?" Alan asked.

Well I'm guessing it must be quite old, the family has been around for a long time," Harry told him, staring down at the mark on his wrist.

The goblin's eyes widened as he saw the mark, 'Osiris mark, touched by his power as well!' he mumbled under his breath. "I see! You meant an entirely different vault then the ones you own. May I assume it is the Peverell vault? Do you wish to visit it?" he asked.

"Yes, it is. No, I do not. Only claim it, I have other matters to attend to."

"Yes sir, the process for old families is fairly simple. If the ring accepts you're the new head. I'll fetch it and the Potter one while I'm at it please wait a moment."

Harry turned to the remaining Goblin teller and asked,"How much gold do I actually have?"

The creepiest grin Harry had ever witnessed spread on the Goblins face, "Simply put, more than you could ever spend and enough to make Croesus green with envy. It would take a few weeks to get you an actual number. Your vaults did merit their own subbasement after all."

"Figures…"

"That is an overwhelming amount of money, I suggest you learn how to wield it, or find someone you trust to do so. The holding of the Potter, Peverell, and Black families will be consolidated, it will take awhile though, we will reach out to you once it's done."

"Understandable."

20 minutes later Harry left the bank with two new rings, a Gringotts credit card, bottomless pouch and a hell of a lot more money than he ever had before in his life.

* * *

\- - - - - Atlas - - - - -

* * *

Harry reappeared standing on a country lane. In the distance, he could see the crooked silhouette of his favorite magical building in the world: the Burrow. He knew his friends would be worried about the disappearing act he pulled, yet his spirits could not help but lift at the sight of it. The Burrow has been restored after Bellatrix attack, yet if one knew what to look for you could still see the scorched earth in some.

"Who's there?" said a nervous voice he recognized as Mrs. Weasley's. "Declare yourself or I start hexing!"

"It's me, Harry."

The door opened at once. There stood Mrs. Weasley, short, curvy and wearing a maroon sundress. It seemed the stress of the war had

"Harry, dear! Goodness. Sorry, you gave me a fright, still a bit tense after everything. We were worried, we didn't know what happened to you after the battle! Ronald and Hermione said you disappeared. Everyone is out at the moment but do come in."

"Ahh, sorry about that I had to go to get to Gringotts, it was rather time sensitive.

Harry looked around and saw that Mrs. Weasley was not alone. A dark-skinned man was sitting at the table finishing up his dinner.

"Hello, Harry," he said, "congratulations on your victory, well I'd better be off," he said quickly, standing up and pulling his cloak around his shoulders. "Thanks for the tea and meal Molly."

"Please don't leave on my account," said Harry courteously,

"I cannot stay, I have urgent matters to deal with at the Ministry, seems like nothing gets done if someone isn't there to hold their hands," said Kingsley, not before shaking Harry's hand. " 'Night —"

Kingsley hurried past Harry into the yard; a few paces beyond the doorstep, he turned on the spot and vanished

Making his way up to Fred and George's former room, figuring his friends wouldn't return sooner than later and find him at the home. The previous day's exertion finally caught up to Harry as he fell asleep.

A knock on the door woke Harry. He could see the moon high in the sky and a tray of food on the desk. He figured Mrs. Weasley had let him sleep to recover. Suddenly another knock at the door and a muffled "Harry, you awake? Can I come in for a moment?" It was Ginny, feeling the briefest flash of nervousness, Harry welcomed Ginny into the room. she entered joining Harry on the bed. Ginny looked up into Harry's face, took a deep breath, and said, "it's nice to have you back, I missed you when you were away, and now Voldemort's gone..."

"I missed you too, I didn't want you to be in any additional danger due to me."

"So there is nothing stopping us being together right. Most of the death eaters are dead. those who aren't are to scared to show their faces or in ministry custody."

"Ginny..." He began, "i do care for you deeply, maybe even love you. I get the feeling though that everyone is just waiting for us to get married. You're the only person I've ever had a relationship with and we dated for less than a year, I'm not anywhere near to being ready for that. I'm not saying I wouldn't want to but I need some freedom, sow some wild oats you know."

"Harry. I don't care what or who you do as long as you let me be yours, screw what other people think, you just killed Voldemort no one will dare say anything. We're together, ok?" she whispered. Harry stared back at her wondering how he'd never gotten to see this side off her before and replied "ok." Then she was kissing him as she had never kissed him before, and Harry was kissing her back, and it was blissful oblivion better than fire whisky;, Ginny, the feel of her, one hand on her back and one in her long, sweet-smelling hair then she began taking off her till she was only in their clad in bra and panties. "I put a silencing charm on the room, no one is here, no one will know." She kissed Harry passionately able to feel his rock hard cock through his pants. She was slightly startled by his girth and size. She sensually whispered "do you want to..." and he nodded yes.

* * *

**Lemon Cut**


	2. What's a glass ceiling?

As time passed Harry, Ron, Hermione and Ginny learned Harry's plan for the future to establish the Atlas Corporation. His meeting with Death had left him a changed man. He now has a slight yet persistent thirst for power. He was by no means a megalomaniac or wished to rule the world, but he knew that with some effort he could become a force to be reckoned with. Wizarding society as it was had been circling the drain for a while. It wasn't too late but to save they would need to do it without him. The dependence they had developed in letting others solve their problems for them was one of the root causes. First Dumbledore took out Grindelwald then they expected him to fix everything. Harry had no doubt that sooner rather than later the same expectation would be laid at his feet. Something he had no intention of being around for.

Ron had been outraged at first that he would turn his back on the wizarding world. Harry brought up the numerous times they vilified him, Ron's own abandonment of him repeatedly despite all he'd done for his friend and his family. Ron thoroughly ashamed made a magical vow to always be at his side and aid him where he could. With time, he so completely defined himself by his loyalty to Harry Potter that he lost some of his sense of self and seemed to begin to develop an obsessive fixation on furthering Harry's ambitions. He always appeared was at a loss for what to do when Harry wasn't around. At Hermione's suggestion that it would be useful for them to have an inside man within the United States intelligence community, Ron reached out to the goblins searching for how to make that a reality. They pointed him towards various mercenary work where he thrived as he achieved to of his strongest desires recognition and fortune. Eventually, he was recruited to join the Central Intelligence Agency's Weapon X program. Mixing muggle science with occlumency he gained an ability known as "photographic reflexes" This ability enabled him to watch another person's physical movements and duplicate them without any practice, no matter how complex. Eventually realizing the insidious nature of the program he escaped and returned to mercenary work seeking another in, all the while maintaining a distance from the CIA. Eventually Nick Fury, the director of S.H.I.E.L.D, snapped him up to work for them as a contract problem fixer. He received training where he pushed his body to be in peak physical condition and engaged in intensive regular exercise. His strength, endurance, stamina, reflexes, and agility were on the level of an Olympic athlete. With his magic, that still remained a closely guarded secret, some would say he was nearly the physical equal of Captain America. In addition to his ability to copy the fighting techniques of others, he was skilled in the use of all conventional weaponry; he had mastered hundreds of forms of unarmed combat and had created some of his own original techniques as well. He was an unerring marksman with both a wand and firearm as a result of the skills of various champions and duelist he committed to memory. These skills included most present-day and many historical martial arts, boxing, wrestling, swordsmanship, archery, marksmanship, gymnastics, aerial acrobatics and sleight of hand. He was once jokingly called Redfist; due to his hair and love for close quarter combat. The name stuck and became his official alias.

Ronald Billius Weasley aka Redfist, at Harry's directive, shuffled stolen capital from his missions to establish a base of operations to train an elite unit of mercenaries. He established the private military company Firebird: Controlled Outcomes in 2002 with the plan of merging with Atlas Corporation once Harry instructed him to. Firebird became notorious for the lethality of its operatives and 97% success rate.

Hermione slipped deeper into the magical arts, traveled extensively, and consorted with all sorts of people. With her deep-seated loyalty to Harry, she constantly sought a new way to expand his wealth and fame. In her eyes, Harry could do no wrong. As she taught back to every instance she had doubted him, his actions had always turned out for the best. Even when Sirius died, she shuddered to imagine a world where the Ministry and the wizarding world continued to deny Voldemort's existence till he was good and ready. She greatly enhanced her skills in Legilimency, to the point that she became arguably one of the greatest masters of the mental arts alive in the world. Her passion for research and inventing was known to only be surpassed by her love for Harry. At his encouragement, she branched off into muggle sciences reckoning it would give her a great boost when trying to bring her ideas to reality. With magical aids, Dr. Hermione Granger was completing her 5th doctorate by age 25.

Ginny fanatically loyal to Harry Potter. She was officially known as his girlfriend/confidant. She became quite possibly the most dangerous and when needed covertly sadistic of Harry's associates. She would proudly claim that she was loyal to Harry above all to any that inquired. Harry, whom Ginny admired the most, gained a considerable amount of respect for her and trained her personally. Ginny Weasley became an extremely powerful and dangerous witch. She was a mistress of the magical arts, an incredibly skillful duelist, and an Occlumens. She became infamous prodigious dueling skill and ruthlessness in the protection of her passion. In the muggle world, she had taken a position at Goldman &amp; Sachs. A firm created as a joint venture between a muggleborns and the goblin nation. The firm had survived several major financial crisis with the aid of it's underground partners, something that had also caused many to be wary of them and even go so far as to view them evil. Being the richest magical by a large margin the goblins were glad to teach Ginny all the tricks to the trade they had learned, they viewed it simply as the more money she made the more money they made. And in the mind of a goblin the only thing better than more money was giraffe meat, a rare delicacy. The young Miss Weasley rapidly became renown for her business acumen and impressive talent at maneuvering financial markets.

Harry's training was a mystery as he travelled the world constantly and the only ones to have any contact with him during this period were his aforementioned friends. All that was known for certain, is that in matters of magical combat Harry Potter was the most gifted and foremost expert.

* * *

-Atlas-

* * *

Their education complete, Harry, Hermione and Ginny hit the books hard in the following years to learn more about the technical aspects and finances of running a business as big as the one Harry was envisioning. He planned to revolutionize the world and his first target was medicine. Harry planned to create a piece of wearable technology that he would call GLiMpSe: Global Monitoring System. Its purpose would be pretty much to serve as a doctor on your wrist. It reads your his health stats and informs you of any and every condition you may be suffering or at risk for. Current technology didn't allow for something so small to be possible, but with a simple diagnostic and monitoring charm Glimpse would easily become a reality. A specially rune locked unbreakable charm and no enterprising wizard would be able to duplicate it, or even companies seeking to reverse engineer it. All he had to do was throw on a digital screen make it look sleek and the muggle would buy it. Anything he couldn't explain was conveniently labeled a company secret.

They had hired the goblins to magically create an island smack in the middle of those of Cape Verde. The plan was to build their base of operations there. While it was far from the most developed nations they did so planning for the future. They didn't believe that the current superpowers would like having the unaligned, independent multinational behemoth the Atlas Corporation would become. Especially once it became known that Firebird was a subsidiary of theirs. There was no need to build any unnecessary additional tension as Luna used to always say, "it is only when you see a mosquito landing on your testicles that you realize that there is often a way to solve problems without using violence."

Shortly after Harry saw himself summoned to the Presidential Palace for high level meetings with the countries' chief executives to explain the new island in their sovereign waters.

He arrived at the Palace a bit after breakfast, after undergoing a rather thorough security check, they led him to an elegantly designed sitting room to wait for the President and his cabinet. After introductions were made and pleasantries exchanged he began to explain himself.

"You already know who I am and my story from the information the goblins provided you. I know this is only a start and that there will be plenty of hurdles and obstacles we will face. Regarding the production of the Glimpse and any future device, I will not be disclosing the process. We wont release anything that isn't completely safe and has been tested rigorously. I will of course be giving your governments the first samples before they get shipped all over the world. Qualified local employees will have preference but they will be required to reside on the island and sign a battery of confidentiality and secrecy agreement.

"I see. How do you plan to do that?" The President was curious on how Harry will pull this off.

"My plan is to eventually have satellite buildings in New York, London, Paris, Rome, Berlin, Moscow, Jerusalem, Tehran, Kabul, Beijing, New Delhi, Islamabad, Baghdad, Tokyo, Manila, and Seoul within the four years when at the Stark Expo which we here is being restarted. Thus we will be able to maximize the early sales potential and capitalize on the media buzz it will generate."

"You are that confident in your product? I know this device is a game changer but at the rate you want to expand is very aggressive, is it not?" the President was a bit skeptical of Harry's plan.

"That is true but at a starting price off $750 a unit we will be making a net profit of $487 so we won't lack capitol. In addition the device requires a $20 annual subscription to keep it running. Yet imagine we get everyone in China to wear one, excluding the initial sale were seeing billions annually. We may even get countries that offer free healthcare to subsidize it for it's citizens."

"In that case your rapid expansion will be possible but let us go back. Where do you plan on setting up your processing plants "I was hoping to convince you to build your plants here but I can see your point, Mr. Potter. I assume the workforce for each compound will be handled by locally?"

"Sir when I said we're hoping to have our headquarters here I meant everything. R&amp;D, factories, port, shipyard, airports, corporate headquarters etc."

"Well that sounds excellent, our staffs will work out the details. I will try and expedite approval to the fastest possible time frame. I don't often give preferential treatment but in this case I predict it shall be well worth it."

"I understand, Mr. President and thank you. I am looking forward to a long and profitable relationship between us."

The local government had been most pleased once they reached a deal with the Atlas Corporation. The agreement was to pay a flat rate of $1 billion USD annually till the company's revenue exceeded $25 billion. At which point they would switch over to a fixed rate of 10% on all profits. It was certainly an unorthodox manner to conduct business but the island nation stood to gain a lot.

The island hand been named Atlantis after the company and the goblins were quick to get construction underway. Ports, airports and shipyards were the first to go up, followed by factories and power plants. The residential areas took up roughly half the island as the number of employees peaked. The research and development facilities were the penultimate to be constructed as a large portion of them were underground or part of the main building at the center of the island waiting to be constructed. The building would be named the Olympus tower. It would be the world first fortress skyscraper

From the exterior, Olympus looks like any other skyscraper. Inside, though, it's built like a tank. Offensive capabilities great enough to down any approaching hostile aircraft or ballistics, weapons powerful enough to sink and destroy the most advanced of submarines. The exterior was magically fortified and warded against explosions, impact, threat of biological/chemical attacks and of course fire. Internal security of course being just as important. Each stairwell composed of reinforced concrete, with a separate, pressurized air supply to keep them operational in the event of an emergency. The building is dotted with biological and chemical filters and detectors, as well as ventilation shafts that can quickly expel contaminants as soon as they are detected. The elevators are encased in three feet of magically reinforced goblin steel and concrete that also serves as an internal "spine" for the building, to prevent collapse in the event that the goblin steel exoskeleton gives way. These were only to name a few of the security features. By the end of construction Olympus was symbol of Harry's ego, Hermione's paranoia and planning and Ginny's vigilance. It was the world's most expensive skyscraper by a fair margin and the most lavish and profitable project the Goblin Nation had ever undertaken, it left Harry's name almost revered in their banks.

* * *

-Atlas-

* * *

_**CXD 23 Airborne Mobile Command Station (S.H.I.E.L.D)**_

_**Designation - S.H.I.E.L.D. Omega 10**_

Director Nick Fury was agitated. He made it his job to know everything about everything to best lead his organization towards it's primary directive, protection of the world and the United States of America especially as it's primary backer. The Atlas Corporation was an intelligence black hole, everything they tried to send in didn't survive long enough to gain anything. The government of Cape Verde warned that there would be swift and harsh punishment against anyone trying to commit espionage that breached its sovereign waters or airspace. A threat the Firebird Military Company had been effectively carrying out since setting up base on Atlantis.

Harry Potter and his posse were definitely people needing to be watched. His gut told him they weren't necessarily bad people but he didn't get the feeling that they were overly altruistic either.

* * *

_-Atlas-_

* * *

_**ATLAS Board Meeting**_

Harry sat at the head of the table listening to reports of his board

"Our investment team at Gringotts is pleased to report another quarter of nearly record breaking profits. Honestly at this point it isn't really fair to anyone else. Goblins are demons with finance and we're making money hand over fists. The 15% commission fee we offered is proving to be ample motivation. Equity is growing, assets rising in value, net profit has been on a Firebolt to the top."

"Thank you Ginny," Harry said. Turning to Ron he asked, "how's Firebird doing?"

"Normal operations are proceeding as expected. We do have one notable point of interest to bring up. As you know we haven't been able to get any nation to sell us any fighter aircrafts, the only thing we could get our hands on were the really old soviet planes leftover from the cold war. We offered to pay up to double for some of the American F-22 Raptors or the EU's Eurofighter Typhoons, we were turned down immediately. So we decided to go for a long term approach and offered to pay for up to half of the development program of their new F-35 Lightening, as we all know the project is well over budget. We lobbied with other involved nations but ultimately NATO responded with a to quote them, "We aren't so crazy as to allow our state of the art technology into the arms of unallied nations." Our final play was to reach out to Stark Industries for some quinjets. I'll summarize, the response we received from Tony Stark was so condescending and rude we considered taking aggressive action against there international assets, Ms. Weasley advised that you would be displeased however with such a course of action. So we turned to Hermione and Playground R&amp;D, they came through spectacularly. If you would look at your displays I'm happy to present to you the Firehawk-01 or as we like to call it the Fawkes, I'll let her present you with the specifics." Ron said with a slight wink to the other Hogwarts graduates in the room.

"Thank you, Ronald. Project Firehawk is the Playground's first masterpiece. We successfully merged magic and muggle technology to create a monster in the sky. It's more mundane feature are its rapid vertical takeoff and landing capabilities, taking a bit of inspiration from the F-35 we included a hover mode. This is achieved by the thrusters being able to pivot down 90 degrees, underbody thrusters, the wings pivot back as flaps deploy. Hover mode is slightly power intensive but in those moments the Firehawk can basically function as an attack helicopter and rain down hell from its position in the sky. There is ceramic plating along most of the aircraft's body enchanted with unbreakable and repair charms, it's by no means invulnerable but by our calculations it would take something along the lines of 4 SAM's or Hellfire missiles to damage the plane enough to force it to land or the pilot eject, but with how fast it is, good luck hitting it The goblins assisted with working the metal to be lightweight yet incredibly resistant, the jet can operate at speeds of up to Mach 5.2 with a service ceiling of 90,000 feet. Now those of you familiar with the current level of flight technology are probably asking yourself what the hell is the point of being able to fly so fast and so high, it will be difficult to breathe and everything will be flying by too quick. Well, this is why we had Ronald and his team initiate a covert raid on the Department of Mysteries to copy all the information on time travel and manipulation. We were successfully able to isolate the cockpit from the rest of the world with the use of runes. As the speed of the aircraft increases, time slows down within the cockpit proportionately. The cabin is pressurized so rapid ascent or descents won't affect the pilot. To whoever is operating the plane, flying at Mach 5 will feel like taking a ride in their Fiat Punto at 20km/h. Unfortunately we are still unable to implement stealth technology comparable to the quinjet but I'd say we are on the same level as the B-2 Spirit Bomber, we plan to fix that when development begins on the Firehawk-02. Last but not least, weapons. This one was suggested by Ronald, with scientific advancement rising in leaps and bounds we choose to put a little kick into our arsenal in case someone has developed a full proof missile defense. We have internal weapons storage on the belly, with a simple expansion charm it can hold up to 20 missiles, a .80 cal Gatling cannon and our crowning achievement, an ion cannon. I could go on about this plane all day but concisely put ladies and gentleman we will have the meanest bird in the sky."

* * *

-Alpha-

* * *

_**Wembley Stadium**_

_**April 21, 2009 – 6pm**_

Government officials, reporters, scientist, engineers, experts in essentially every medical field had been invited. When the mysterious Atlas Corporation first appeared firmly shrouded in a veil of mystery everyone wondered what they did. What was their purpose? How are they spending so much money? Why? On what? So when they had announced their first product launch tickets had sold out in sixty seconds flat. The venue had to be switched to the Wembley stadium to attempt to meet demand. 14 minutes and 80,000 seats were gone. Multiple screens had been set up around the stage and many were waiting for the mysterious chairman to start the show.

CEO of Atlas Corporation, Ginny Weasley walked onto the stage and announced, "Ladies and gentlemen, it is my distinct pleasure to present to you the Chairman and founder of the Atlas Corporation, Harry Potter."

The thundering roar of thousands of people clapping shook the stadium.

"Thank you, thank you. This is a day I've been looking forward to for nearly a decade. Every once in a while, a revolutionary product comes along that changes everything. Atlas has been very fortunate to create one of those. Today, we're introducing a revolutionary product. This is one device, and we are calling it Glimpse. Today, Atlas is going to reinvent healthcare, and here it is. No, actually here it is, but we're going to leave it there for now.

Peace of mind. It comes from knowing that your people are watching out for you. Like your family doctor, your therapist, your personal trainer, your nutritionist, your physiotherapist. Your entire health and well-being team. But who could afford all that specialized care. Now, you can. Meet Glimpse, your health and lifestyle oracle. Real-time medical monitoring and disease prevention, now within reach. This is what peace of mind looks like.

You know, I was showing this to somebody — I was giving a demo to somebody a while ago, who had never seen this before, inside Atlas headquarters. And I finished the demo, and I said what do you think. They told me this, they said, You had me at peace of mind.

I didn't sleep a wink this past week. I was so excited about today, because have such a real revolutionary product. I don't think the world will forget it either. We're very excited about this. There's an old Wayne Gretzky quote that I love. I skate to where the puck is going to be, not where it has been. And we will always try to do that at Atlas. So thank you very very much for being a part of this. Gates will be opened and you may access the field for live product demonstration, please be patient, we will be here till sunrise if need be, but you will all get a chance to see one."


	3. A Call To Arms

**A/N _shorter chapter than usual but I'm trying to get pass the Battle of New York which is when my plan for the story gets interesting_**

* * *

**Himalayas Mountain Range**

Harry was at the edge of the highest cliff he could find on Mount Everest. His face focused in concentration, he knew this would not be easy, but he would be damned if he failed. Ever since he had seen Voldemort take flight when chasing him through London skies he had been determined to learn how. He knew how, in theory, Hermione had been an absolute doll helping him to figure that out, but he had to get this done, one way or the other. He vowed he would unleash the power he felt brimming just below the surface of his skin waiting to propel him into the air. He knew this fall wouldn't kill, but the injury would be grievous and painful, it was well known that wizardkind was quickly motivated by pain. Making sure he had no easy way out, he decided to force himself to do it. Setting his wand down, he set his foot on the barren peak of the cold mountain and looked down. The only way to return was to fly back to the top, dire circumstance had always been excellent motivation.

He closed his eyes and concentrated. Magic pooling in his arms and legs, slowly engulfing the entirety of his person. A heartbeat later, a small vortex of magic began to swirl around his feet- he felt his body reinforcing itself, it was almost as if he could jump hundreds of meters. Yet no lift, he was getting frustrated. The destiny that had been forced upon him was to be the strongest. Death hadn't been specific whether it was amongst all or just wizards he didn't know. The world had become a strange place in the last decade and he was sure that that title did not belong to him, yet. It was do or die.

Harry jumped

There was nothing below his feet! Looking down, he could not believe his eyes. The ground was so far below him, the huge boulders in the expanse of snow looked more like chocolate crumbs. The intense wind buffeted against him, and in a split second he realized he was adrenaline pumped through him, if he didn't learn how to fly now, he was going to splat like a ripe tomato on a hot summer day. With a full-bodied scream, he summoned all of the power at his disposal and cut loose. With an intense burst of magic Harry Potter, the Master of Death, took flight.

Eat my shorts Iron Man! Harry thought as he hit Mach 1.

* * *

\- Atlas –

* * *

**Atlas Corp. HQ**

**Acme, The Sandbox**

Hermione Granger remembered a time when she had doubted her friend and it made her feel foolish every time. In her first year, she didn't understand the hype around the Boy Who Lived. Once classes had begun she saw that he was only another boy, he displayed no extraordinary abilities, he was friend with then nitwit spectacular Ronald Weasley. A line of thought that had been squashed with extreme prejudice when he saved her from the troll, it was not normal for a young child to engage an armed creature several times his size and strength. She had been convinced then and there that if nothing else he was someone that would look out for her the best he could. Her mistake in third year when reporting his Firebolt had lead her to believe that the friendship could be declared FUBAR. Why couldn't he understand that she was only trying to protect him? Though if being completely honest with herself, a small part of her had done so because she thought she knew better. She found herself ostracized from the 'Golden Trio' and snubbed by most of Gryffindor when they learned what she had done. She had learned from her mistake however. When she followed Harry to the Ministry, her gut told her it was a trap, her mind told her it was a trap, yet her heart knew she couldn't sit back idly. Even when vindicated, she realized the Battle at the Ministry had ultimately been in their favor, she couldn't imagine a world where Voldemort had never been exposed, they may all very well be dead. When Riddle was finally killed she knew that her side would always be by Harry's side.

A decision she was very glad about now. When Harry had initially approached them about Atlas he had offered her a position in the R&amp;D department. Atlas Research &amp; Development was created with an unrivaled budget, and quickly became known for it's insane and sometimes mind-boggling creations it was designated internally as Acme. It employed squibs, muggleborns, muggles etc. Pretty much anyone willing to push the envelope could find a place at Acme. Their creations were technological, magical cloaked as new discoveries and sometimes a hybrid of both. Harry, bless his soul, was pleased by the progress. A lot of which she had spearheaded as team leader, which eventually lead to him going ahead and handing her the keys to the kingdom making her Director of R&amp;D(Acme). She recalled a time when in her childhood when she was watching documentaries with her father about Stark Industries creations and Lockheed Martins Skunkworks. Impressed by what they managed to do, she was disappointed that they relied so heavily on government contracts to fund themselves. She wanted to pursue whatever she chooses not be confined to creating weapons of war, it was such a limited scope. Life was truly glorious Hermione thought as her attention shifted back to the present.

"Entry 1, January 4. 2009. Subject Potter has responded exceptionally to all test performed on him. We have yet to identify an upper limit to his strength or stamina, levels fluctuate variant on how much magic is expended. His ascension to Master of Death seems to have put him somewhere between the super soldier and Asgardian weight class in terms of endurance. Lacking research samples from either we have no way of definitively confirming that. The analysis suggests that short of the destruction of the subject's brain and heart gradual regeneration will prevent permanent death. Fittings have been completed for chest plates and a helmet, development will begin soon."

Hermione looked around her personal lab named affectionately nicknamed Sandbox. Strewn about where all manner of equipment and incomplete projects. Her eyes came to rest on the one that had been giving her the most difficulty. Project Athena, her brainchild. Ever since she had heard rumors of Tony Stark having his own A.I. she'd decided she absolutely needed her own. The basic interface had been easy enough to create. Unfortunately, as soon as she had begun trying to code in a level of intelligence she found them to be extremely unstable. The prototype A.I.'s completed tasks to quickly and began trying to search for information to sate their own curiosity. In one particular version, she'd named Persephone the A.I. had begun to completely ignore her developing a concerning level of independence. She had implemented a personality matrix and it turned into a snob and a slight superiority complex reminiscent of Draco Malfoy without the xenophobia.

"Entry 2. Project Athena remains in early development stages. The design of a moral code underway to shackle unpleasant personality aspects that had presented themselves. May require consulting with psychology experts. A.I. experiments being set as a low priority. Virtual Intelligence construction will be prepared for more immediate use.

Project, designation Glimpse, has been a massive success. Production of model two is currently underway; target launch date is late April 2012. We expect the launch stockpile to be in the just shy of 35 million. Retail stores being constructed worldwide in every major outlet expected to be completed by the end of March 2009. Product launch announcement imminent, the date set at the discretion of Chairman Potter. Demand is excepted to dwarf supply by quarter end."

* * *

\- Atlas -

* * *

In the greater universe Loki had returned from a different dimension two days prior the battle to take the Tesseract, with help from Thanos and The Other. He teleported to the Project P.E.G.A.S.U.S. SHIELD. facility and proceeded to take control of the minds of Clint Barton for his fighting skills and Erik Selvig for his knowledge of the Tesseract. Nick Fury brought the rest of his organization known as SHIELD to war readiness. Thinking the time had come, he initiated the Avengers Initiative, a plan to recruit Earth's mightiest beings for a team called the Avengers.

Ronald Weasley in his role as head of Firebird began to monitor the situation the moment it came to his attention. Naturally SHIELD had tried to be covert as they geared up for war, choking any attempts by the media to report the matter. Their attempt to cover the whole matter up was mildly successful, but even they were hard pressed to keep the destruction of a giant research facility completely quiet. In this case however it was SHIELD's satellite imagery that Firebird piggybacked upon that alerted them. They had no allegiance to any, but themselves but something capable of destroying SHIELD's base so quickly and completely was cause for uneasiness.

Later that day, Loki went into a gallery to create a distraction and retrieve a scan of an eye for Barton, while Barton stole iridium to stabilize the Tesseract. SHIELD sent in Steve Rogers to stop Loki. When the civilians cleared the area, they also sent in Tony Stark in his Mark VI Ironman armor. Loki surrendered and lets them take him into custody. On the way back to the Helicarrier, Thor came and took Loki. Thor tells Loki that he traveled from Asgard to get him. While Thor is talking, Iron Man attacks Thor for taking Loki from them. Iron Man and Thor fight, but Captain America stops them. Thor becomes an ally and a member of the team.

Redfist had watched the entire confrontation from the Triton reconnaissance UAV they had deployed in the area. All Firebird personal was recalled and put on standby. He had suspected something unusual was at foot with the destruction of the SHIELD facility, however the sudden gathering of powerful beings was a cause for concern. He then proceeded to transmit an alert for Chairman Potter. He knew Harry didn't like getting involved in the affairs of others but powered beings having at it was something he would want to know. Company policy clearly dictated not to seek trouble unless it was profitable, threatened them or global security. However, any hostile individuals that so much as looked at them the wrong way were to be dealt with extreme prejudice. As a side note Ron sent a memo to increase Harry's personal guard till further notice.

In the mean time Loki having escaped from the prison having tricked Thor into the inside, sent Thor hurtling toward the ground hundreds of feet below. Thor barely made it out of the prison before it shattered on sharp rocks, and Thor ended up in an empty field. Hulk landed in an abandoned warehouse. Dr. Banner woke up in the warehouse, where only one worker was present. The worker gives Banner some clothes and a motorcycle. Loki escaped while his allies fought the S.H.I.E.L.D. agents.

Iron Man arrived at Stark Tower where Loki was planning to open the portal to unleash his army of Chitauri. Stark attempted to destroy the device, but an impenetrable energy shield protected it. Stark stalled Loki to give J.A.R.V.I.S. enough time to prepare the Mark VII armor. Frustrated, Loki threw Tony out the window, but Tony's Mark VII armor deployed in time to save him. The Tesseract then, in conjunction with the device Erik Selvig built, opened a portal to bring his army of Chitauri and Leviathans

Ron began trying to reach Harry urgently to alert him of the latest developments.

* * *

\- Atlas -

* * *

**Park Ave, Manhattan NYC**

Harry who had been in Europe at the time with Hermione and Ginny when he received Ron's warning decided he wanted nothing to do with whatever was going on and had made his way to their penthouse in New York City. It was his favorite place to be when state side, something about being so high in the sky kept him at peace.

The group was currently spending their time in the living room. Ginny was situated on the recliner with a computer handling company business. Harry and Hermione were on the sofa across from her beginning to engage in more lewd activities. She desperately wanted to join but need to get things done so she plowed on with her work occasionally glancing up and watching the pair.

For a while, they both just sat there hugging, Harry's fingers gently caressing her spine. Harry's soft breathing on Hermione's neck along with his gentle exploration of Hermione's back lead to her releasing a quiet moan from her soft lips. This only excited Harry more and his cock was aching to be released from his pants.

Hermione's body suddenly moved and she raised her face off Harry's shoulders and looked him straight in the eyes then suddenly Hermione was giving Harry a deep, hungry kiss. They kept on kissing passionately for a few minutes till they broke apart. She lifted up her t-shirt, revealing her fantastic breasts.

Harry's mouth dropped in awe. They were absolutely perfect. They were perfectly round, with rosy nipples. Hermione arched herself backward, stretching her breasts upwards and then she moved her chest towards Harry's face, So his lips were barely an inch away from her breasts. The animal in Harry suddenly erupted. His moment had come. Paying no mind to Ginny he accosted her and began passionately making love to Hermione.

That is until the moment Harry's eyes widened as he saw a giant green being hanging on to the adjacent building throw what seemed to be an armored gray skinned humanoid creature at his patio windows.


	4. Peace Through Strength

_"We are each our own devil, and we make this world our hell," - Oscar Wilde_

Stark flies toward the invading Chitauri and opens fire, destroying several of them. While he flies he tries to call War Machine to join the battle, but he said he was busy fighting soldiers working for the Ten Rings at the battle of Hong Kong

Thor arrives at Stark Tower and threatens Loki to turn off the Tesseract. Loki states that it cannot be turned off, and the two fight on the tower as more Chitauri arrived. In a Quinjet, Hawkeye, Black Widow, and Captain America fire on several Chitauri before being shot down by Loki, who then jabs Thor with a small dagger before fleeing on a Chitauri Chariot. On the streets, the NYPD fires on the invading army to no effect, as Rogers, Barton, and Romanoff fight the army on the streets while protecting as many civilians as they can. Captain America takes command of the NYPD and tells them to set up a perimeter down to 39th Street. The NYPD are later supported by the National Guard.

When Thor is flying around in New York, Iron Man asks him if he has ever seen Game of Thrones, saying that he reminds him of it. In response, Thor asks how can Tony joke when they are in the middle of a war. Before he could finish his sentence, Thor is eaten by a Leviathan. In a rage, Thor uses Mjølnir to get out of the creature.

After some fighting, Bruce Banner arrives, and Stark leads a Leviathan towards him. Banner transforms into Hulk and destroys it with Stark's help. For the first time, the Avengers stand united, ready to defend New York City. Loki orders the Chitauri to arrive in full force. Captain America assumes command: he details Hawkeye to take a high vantage point and call out attack patterns and strays; Stark will maintain air superiority against the Chitauri; Thor can use his lightning to bottleneck the portal; Rogers and Romanoff are to keep the fighting on the ground, and Hulk only gets one word, "Smash."

* * *

**-Atlas-**

* * *

Harry made eye contact with the hulking green creature for a brief moment and saw a look of surprise flicker on its face when the being it had launched didn't break the windows but rather bounced off. Then it roared and vaulted off in search of further prey.

"Hermione you and Ginny get to the command room and get me in touch with Ron right now."

"Where are you going?"

"We're under attack luv, saving people of course."

"Really Harry, I might have bought that in Hogwarts doesn't to be you anymore."

"Not entirely correct but I have also been doing all this training, I've been itching to try myself against something new and look at those things," Harry said pointing to the armored grey creature "They are coming out of a space portal, I don't think after this my presence will be especially unusual."

"Alright go, your suit is in your office stay safe," Hermione left with Ginny after a brief kiss.

Harry sprinted to his office and quickly slammed his palm into the hidden sensor on the side of his desk. It read his magical signature and opened a concealed vault door in his office to reveal his third love and baby.

The expanding helmet was completely matte black inspired by a cartoon villain he had seen in his youth named Deathstroke. A true feat of technomancy, made from a vibranium-silver alloy it could take heavy punishment and thanks to the silver retain certain mystical properties. It had a multi-spectrum visual display with smart informational overlay fed live from Atlas' servers. Recycled its own oxygen with limited underwater capabilities for emergency situations, breathing under water wasn't much of a concern when one could simply cast a bubblehead charm. The armor came into two layers. The under armor was super-compressed dragon tissue and stored in the hollows of Harry's bones. The tissue exited through skeletal pores and slid between all cells to self-assemble a new "skin" around him serving as a powered exoskeleton. The outer layer was comprised of a basilisk skin suit with reinforced hard point to protect his vitals and soft point. A layer of electronic devices had been woven between the layers for two purposes: monitor his body to prevent damage where it could and allow him to safely channel a great deal of his magic reinforcing his body without overtaxing his system. Clever application of port key let him will the outer layer upon his person in just under two seconds. Harry wasn't exactly pleased thinking it still took to long, nonetheless understood new tech took time to refine.

Armor on, Harry jumped off the edge of the patio and took flight.

"Alright, who wants to be first?"

"Harry can you hear me?" Ginny's voice came in over the helmet's communication system.

"Loud and clear, what's going on."

"We just spoke to Ron, he had to divert the forces he was sending to back you up to Hong Kong, there's a situation brewing there and with you here he figured they would be better served to protect our assets there. He does have air support headed your way though."

"Got it, there seems to be a team fighting back, tell Hermione to scan for any comms and see if she can patch me in."

Harry then saw an Iron Man blast past him with a giant flying armored alien sea turtle hot on his tail.

Shaking his head Harry muttered, "And I thought blast ended skretws were weird." Launching himself at the beast Harry begins by blasting it with the standard Hogwarts fare.

"Reducto!" The Leviathan barely flinched roaring in defiance. Taking the opportunity as it presented itself Harry fired, 'Aqua Eructo', launching a jet of water at its open mouth. Followed rapidly with a 'Duratus' freezing the water and the Leviathan's mouth open. Seemingly sensing the degree of potency behind Harry's magic, it broke off its chase from Stark and attacked him. Harry almost laughed out loud.

Idiot beast, he thought. Deciding to have a little fun before moving on Harry pooled his magic waiting for the creature to reach him and his wand arm outstretched the magic visibly simmering around his hand. Apparently recognizing the incoming attack the Leviathan tried to dodge but wasn't fast enough to react as he incanted 'Vera verto' to be greeted with the sight of a slowly morphing Leviathan turn into a 10 meter glass goblet. Unfortunately, he didn't have a great deal of time to admire his Handiwork and vanished it before it could crash into the fleeing civilians below.

* * *

**INSIDE THE IRON MAN SUIT**

* * *

"Sir, there seem to be reinforcements."

"I noticed, how was he flying."

"Unknown sir, the scan I got of him was brief but he seemed to be self propelled strangely enough."

"Keep an eye on and let the others know not to interfere as long as he's helping.

Elsewhere felt the wave of mystical energy behind him as he flew towards the tower. Not feeling anything malicious he decided to concern himself with it later. Thor grabbed onto the tower. Raises Mjölnir and unleashed a blinding bolt of lightning strikes down from above and channeled it towards the portal and the Chitauri soldiers flying out. Enheartened as he watched them and a Leviathan drop dead out of the sky.

* * *

**HELICARRIER**

* * *

"Sir there is an unknown being taking out Chitauri in midtown, he might be some kind of 0-8-4, he's doing it with his own power. I can't see any tech," Agent Maria Hill reported.

"Keep tracking him, we'll need to bring him in after this."

"Understood, and sir. The council is on."

"Shit." Fury thought as he left for the council room.

* * *

Back in Manhattan Hulk was attacking any and all targets of opportunity. Though they are more than capable of fighting the invasion, Romanoff knowing they needed to close the portal in order to win. With Captain America's help, she jumps onto a Chariot to make her way to the portal only to be pursued by Loki. Hawkeye targets Loki with an arrow, which he catches, but it explodes, causing him to crash at the top of Stark Tower. Hulk arrives and beats Loki into submission with frightening ease. Unfortunately, even with Loki defeated the Chiturai continue to invade and begin to wear the Avengers down. With Harry hopping around the skies taking down Leviathan's left and right the strain was reduced but becoming apparent.

Now free of Loki's control, Selvig tells Romanoff that he had enough control to build a failsafe into the portal device which could shut it down using an energy just like it, which means they can use Loki's spear to close the portal.

* * *

**HELICARRIER**

* * *

Meanwhile, Nick Fury's superiors, the World Security Council, order Fury to launch a nuclear missile at New York City to end the invasion, but Fury refuses the order.

The world security council choosing to bypass Fury issued an order. "This Secretary of Defense Alexander Pierce of the World Security Council. Override order EX910. Director Fury is no longer in command., 7 ALPHA 11, deploy.

"7 ALPHA 11, confirmed. Preparing to takeoff." The pilot confirmed as he ignites his engine.

Back in the bridge, Agent Hill glanced at her station and noticed 7 ALPHA 11 was in motion on the flight deck and preparing to leave. Immediately turning to the Director she exclaimed.

"Sir, we have a bird in motion! Anyone on the deck, we have a rogue bird! We

need to shut it down! Repeat! Take off is not authorized!

Nick Fury ran out onto the deck carrying an RPG while praying to god the pilot wasn't an absolute moron that armed his payload, he took aim fired. A direct hit to the tail, he hadn't done that since his CIA days, but he still had it. The jet skid across the deck leaving the pilot unharmed and potentially soon out of a job. Fury was momentarily relieved only to turn and see another jet fly off unable to do anything about it.

"Stark, you hearing me? We have a missile headed straight for the city."

"How long?"

"Three minutes, at best. Stay alert and wipe out the missile."

* * *

**FIREBIRD HQ**

* * *

Ron was watching the battle unfold in New York as he prepared a containment strategy in case the avengers initiative failed. They were effectively containing the threat but against a seemingly endless onslaught even Harry would eventually tire. The ion weaponry on the Firehawk would be able to take down the Leviathan.

"Sir S.H.I.E.L.D. just deployed an F-35, it's headed straight for New York with a nuclear payload."

"Bloody hell, are they insane. Can we intercept?"

"We only have surveillance in the area, we won't get it before it fires.

'Dammit Ron thought as he moved to the communications panel. "This is Redfist. I want to birds ready to pull out Hermione and Ginny yesterday."

Firehawk pilots responded immediately. "Acknowledged Commander, moving to new AO."

"Sir don't you think the military will freak out somewhat if we send in fighter planes"

"I think the bloody aliens falling out of the Merlin damned portal has them busy at the moment."

* * *

**MANHATTAN**

* * *

Stark followed Fury's command and tried to call his girlfriend, Pepper Potts, realizing that he may not survive. Pepper failed to answer because she along with the rest of her staff were watching the battle on a television abroad the Stark Jet wondering if Tony was still alive. Harry was clearing the area around the portal, taking down the Chitauri trying to intercept Tony.

"Hermione, what's Stark carrying."

"I've been listening in on their comm feeds, it seems to be a nuclear device."

"These yanks don't do anything by half eh?" Harry muttered to himself as he yanked another Chitauri off a carriage and used him as an alien shield against the two creatures attacking him.

Back on the helicarrier bridge, every single agent held their breath as they too watched Ironman fly up into the portal. Iron man climbed higher and higher over the city, gaining speed, giving it his all and flinging himself through the portal, all communications died at that moment.

The suit began to freeze Tony noticed as a feeling of dread crept up on him. Nothing matched the horror he felt however as he saw the black sky filled with what must have been at least ninety ships in a vague cluster. Most of them hanging back waiting to deploy as a few moved forwards. He let go of the missile as it flew of into the void of space he began freefalling towards the rapidly closing portal. Feeling his consciousness slip away he hoped his sacrifice was worth it, however not before seeing what he suspected to be the mother ship get impacted by the nuke and detonate. Imploding cheerfully as it destroyed the surrounding armada in a supernova explosion.

Suddenly, all of the Chitauri soldiers and leviathans keeled over and with a brief shudder ceased to function.

Thor and Captain America see the supernova coming towards them. Thor nods to Cap who then proceeded to order the Black Widow to close the portal.

Harry saw the small figure hurtling towards the earth doing it's best impression of a wronski feint. He intercepted the free fall as he caught Iron man around the chest only to be yanked off violently by the Hulk as he snatched both of them out of the air in a rapid descent towards street level.

Seeing the Chitauri had ceased fighting Harry reckoned the battle had come to a close. Choosing to embrace the most ancient and noblest of wizarding traditions when faced with unfamiliar and possibly superior force, he apparated out of the Hulk's fist back to his penthouse.

Harry had a hell of a day and the Avengers were victorious.

After the fight, the Avengers went to Stark Tower to capture the injured Loki and took him into custody. Harry reappeared in his living room and made his way to his office to remove his armor.

"Honeys, I'm home."

"Harry! Are you ok? You hurt?"

"Nothing pressing or urgent, maybe a few bruised ribs. However that's from the Hulk holding me like I was his favorite sandwich."

"We can take care of that at HQ. Ron has jets hovering at high altitude ready to take us home."

"No, send them back. I'm sure the Americans have already noticed them and it'll lead them directly to us. In addition, as much as I enjoy flying spending 4hrs in the cockpit of a Firehawk after a battle sounds horrible. Ginny, charter the fastest plane available for us."

"On it, I'll have Poppy meet has on Atlantis."

"Urgh, I guess. You'd think at my age she'd stop treating me like a first year."

"Harry, I'm pretty sure she does it because she knows it annoys you."


	5. Autopilot

A/N _**A bit of a filler chapter, but needed to introduce a new character next chapter**_

_"It is better to own 10% of an elephant than 100% of a rat." -Arthur Mutambara_

Darkness doomed down on the fortified high tower building. Lights from the building reflected in the distance on the ocean that surrounded the island. Dozens of buildings that composed the Atlas Corporation's industrial and corporate complex, filled with some of the world's most brilliant and industrious people who wanted nothing less than to see the world improve and reach new heights.

A man standing at just over six foot perched on the very edge of the tower looking down at the road below, where the cars driving by looked like ants running around. He looked up into the starry night and breathed in deeply.

He heard movement behind him, so he slowly turned around to see two familiar faces, the only two people he allowed to close to him.

"I fear our departure didn't go as unnoticed as we had hoped. SHIELD agents have been spotted poking around the Manhattan building and digging up ownership records. Sooner or later they will realize it's an Atlas owned property and come knocking. It may be best to preempt that meeting and reach out to them." explained the younger of the two.

Harry Potter was a wizard, an extremely powerful one, but he wasn't omnipotent. SHIELD was an unnecessary enemy to make at this time. The wouldn't be able to capture or detain him however there reach was extensive and he knew they would be able to make a nuisance of themselves in his daily life. The politics of coming to an agreement with the organization would likely be tedious, but one of the penalties for refusing to participate in politics is that you end up being governed by your inferiors, a notion he refused to consider.

"Reach out to Director Fury or Maria Hill. Let them know I am the unknown party that took part in the battle and tell them I am willing to meet with them in neutral waters with an escort."

"I can handle that."

"You know it wouldn't be a bad thing to get SHIELD to smooth things over for our trip to Chicago, they could open a lot of doors at a much lower cost," Hermione mentioned.

"Brilliant idea love, I'll be sure to bring it up. Tell Ron I will require one of his Special Activities fireteams."

* * *

**At the Triskelion**

* * *

Things were tense at the Triskelion as Director Fury received notice that the unknown party wished to meet. The meeting was set at his headquarters and castle. No expense had been spared in the construction of his new headquarters. Post Chitauri invasion his budget had been significantly increased and no one was likely to be able to catch him by surprise in his favorite base.

Clearance had been obtained for the individual, one transport helicopter, and a five-man security detail to accompany him. Reports had recently come in from radar stations of a previously unknown tilt-and-transverse-rotor helicopter on an approach vector.

Harry took in the view of the Triskelion as he heard his pilot request landing permission.

"Triskelion control, Omega One from Atlas requesting permission to land"

"Omega One, permission granted, you may land at the northeast pad. A party shall be there to greet you.

Omega One was a designation given to whatever aircraft Harry occupied at any given time. Similar to how the President of the United States aircraft would take the designation Air Force One or Marine One. The Special Activities team that accompanied him was legendary amongst Atlas personnel. They were the Global Humit Operations Special Taskforce, simply known as GHOST. Soldiers selected and an early age and enlisted into the GHOST program minutes after they turned eighteen. They were ritually augmented soldiers created to surpass all levels of conventional warfare. Magic was an awesome and terrible entity that gave them augmented reflexes, strength, speed and increased mental capabilities. They were by no means supernatural in their abilities but well above accepted human standards. Firebird: Controlled Outcomes was well known for it's highly trained operatives that they deployed at the behest of nations or high net worth clients. Their tactics were often frowned upon, but there was no denying their effectiveness. In over a decade of operations, there had only been three civilian casualties and fourteen operators lost in active duty. GHOST teams were deployed only at Harry or Ron's direct command.

"We are glad you came in for debriefing Mr. ..."

"Potter, Harry Potter." At the mention of the surname Harry noticed a fractional widening of Fury's eyes before they swiftly shifted into a frown. "I thought your agency would know me by now, I believe you have been trying to break into my company headquarters for close to a decade now. I assumed that you were aware of my gifts."

"We possessed no concrete information, however, multi-billion privately owned and funded companies are atypical. The tremendous and extreme level of security you implemented around your headquarters makes everyone wary. The popular logic is that if you had nothing to hide you would be more open, not have it locked down like a presidential bunker."

"A flawed line of thought actually. Our independence is the key aspect behind our success. Unlike Stark, we didn't build our company off the back of government contracts. We simply want to make the world better, greater. I would like to think that we are even succeeding. We create excellent groundbreaking products that stand on their own merits. Public knowledge of the workings of my organization lead to various issues; espionage, copyrights, oversight concerns, environmental concerns, media relations… etc. I could go on for hours."

"Fascinating, while the Atlas Corporation is a subject of interest, what has SHIELD and the World Security Council concerned is more the ventures of your Firebird branch. They've quickly become a tier one intelligence and paramilitary agency that we strongly suspect them of also being engaged in special warfare activities. A top-secret spy organization operating outside of any chain of command and under your jurisdiction is upsetting."

"Hmm, well director I can neither confirm nor deny any such actions without consulting and receiving the approval of my board of directors," Harry said with a taunting grin. It wasn't entirely the truth, it was his company and ultimately the power to make decisions rested with him, but he enjoyed pushing Nick Fury's buttons. The little twitch above his eye patch every time he didn't receive the answer he wanted was droll. Harry knew what Firebird did but didn't dig into the specifics unless he needed to. He unequivocally trusted Ron and his loyalty to him. The magical vow Ron had voluntarily sworn to that effect helped a long way in guaranteeing that trust.

"I see, what about the assassination of a Mossad snatch team in London in 2004."

"Hypothetically, I could imagine such a team was seeking to forcefully bring me in for interrogation."

"Bombing of the CE Research Laboratory in Abu Dhabi?"

"I could imagine them custom making biological weapons for undesirable parties. Were these actions of Firebird I would come to believe that their actions made them a boon to global security I think, from that look in your eye, you already knew that. The simultaneous twitch makes me believe that you are just annoyed we existed so long with our fingers in so many pies without your knowledge"

"Remember Senator Strutter? Chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee? His plane crashed into Everest after experiencing critical engine failure. Coincidentally an Atlas aircraft was spotted in the area minutes later.

"Have you read the latest research into ion weaponry? Fascinating stuff, I was discussing it with a friend, while impressive it's nothing C-4 couldn't do just as well, either way redundancy is a good policy. Anyway you know I had this horrible dream of a Senator who turned traitor and was prepared to sell critical national intelligence to foreign agencies and dissident factions. The consequences were horrifying, but I woke up before I found out what happened to the Senator."

"The beginning of the Arab Spring in Tunisia? I know for a fact that Firebird was involved, we have records of the former first lady requesting an extraction team."

"That I can confirm as her husband had yet to cede power and no warrants were outstanding at the time, the entire operation was above board. There is nothing unusual about a head of state requesting additional security during a time of unrest that shows all signs of a burgeoning revolution. As interesting as this is, I doubt it's why you agreed to meet me personally."

"You may not know, but S.H.I.E.L.D has been developing the Avengers Initiative using powered people. we don't have a profile for you seeing as you managed to stay under the radar however if you wish to join there is a place for you."

"I already have a job director. Also knowing what I do about your organization I don't know I'd in comfortable being your personal lapdog.

"It's nothing like that you would function more as an emergency response team for allegations we can't handle. Likely against enhanced and powered individuals. There are being out there that go beyond what conventional warfare can handle. I don't know how much we can trust in what we have to keep us safe. Also, historically nuclear deterrents have been a horrible idea."

"I'll tell you what I'll take a Stark deal, I think I can make time to come on as a consultant. Should be good enough, who else can boast about having two gods on their team."

"Delusions of grandeur are unbecoming of a man of your stature Mr. Potter."

"I don't have delusions of grandeur, I have an actual recipe for grandeur and I've been in the kitchen since I was seventeen."

"Instead of paying me perhaps we could come to an arrangement?"

"What would that be Mr. Potter."

"Well I'm headed to Chicago after here to order a few custom made engines, I was hoping you could help get clearance to purchase some more restricted defensive upgrades."

"Why would I do that, Mr. Potter."

"For that small favor I need you, you can have me on call for ALL world threatening events. I'll accept the call, but I reserve the right to withhold any assistance. I will also promise not to interfere with any SHIELD ops as long my people and I aren't at risk."

"I can work with that. SHIELD appreciates your serves Mr. potter. I hope we can develop a more friendly relationship."

"I doubt we will ever be friends Director. You insist on treating your organization like a giant game of chess with you as its master. A game that was born during a brutal age when life counted for little and everyone believed that some people were worth more than others. Kings and their pawns. I don't think that anyone is worth more than anyone else."

"A noble sentiment and school of thought, unfortunately, there are many in this world that disagree and I put forth my best with the tools I am afforded. New York will change everything. It is the dawn of the age of heroes and supervillains. SHIELD has become more relevant than ever as a job it's been doing for decades has reached the public eye."

"I don't envy you the decisions you're going to have to make. One day you will be gone and I will still be here. Tagging and/or imprisoning people will only work for so long.

* * *

Harry left the Triskelion flanked by Firebird security team and got into his Range Rover headed for Leesburg Executive Airport to catch his flight to Chicago. The security was unnecessary however it was a power play that was needed. Nick Fury had his faults, but he firmly believed in protecting the world.

Shortly after Harry arrived at the airport and boarded his chartered Dassault Falcon to Chicago.

Ginny had arranged a meeting with a senior vice president of the Boeing Company. The Senior Vice President of Global Sales &amp; Marketing, Defense, Space &amp; Security. Normally other elements would have been in charge of dealing with his prospective purchase. However, once Ginny had given him an idea of how massive the upcoming purchase would be, they were more than happy to accommodate him.

"Mr. Potter we're glad you got here safely. I'm Mr. Young from Defense and Global Sales. Your paperwork just came through from the Pentagon to purchase certain weapons systems.

"A pleasure to meet you. I'm sure Ginny has briefed you on my needs. I was initially looking to purchase a 737-800 however Ginny tells me you had another proposal in mind for me."

"Yes. You see normally I wouldn't be able to even dream of offering you this however recently we've had an a 747-8 ordered by the Boeing Business Jet division .from certain middle eastern nationals. There are currently seven orders for this aircraft, this is the next one to come off the assembly line. The VIP 747 is delivered by BBJ in a green" condition, meaning there are no interior furnishings so that the owner can design it to personal preference. This plane has a range of 9,260 nmi, nearly triple that of the 737."

"It's fascinating however I don't have the time nor inclination to wait for 7 other planes to be completed before I can get one. That is true however the buyer has recently had a change of heart and wished to switch over to a 787 Dreamliner, but it was a little too late in the process. I'm sure if you reach out to them they would be willing to make that deal."

"If you have the necessary information to me I'll have Ginny reach out by the end of the day. I'm confident that we can come to an agreement. How soon would I be able to take possession of the craft."

"Well as I said it's in the green state the they are just completing the flutter test so a few more to go and she could be yours."

"Excellent I'll also be needing you to give me schematics you would put for a presidential variant. I plan to assemble it back the island."

"Are you sure you want to that, We have years of expertise and our discretion and security is top of the line."

"It's not a matter of trusting you with the plane, but one of trusting you with my life. All sorts of agencies would love to spy on my on me and seeing how I need to travel 5000km weekly between my home in New York and headquarters on the African coasts, It would be an excellent opportunity for them to plant spying devices or software."

"Understandable but you understand the cost would be in the billions. The aircraft in that configuration already will run you really a billion. Moving the parts take ages. We could have them ready in months, however, shipping them that far will take ages."

"Transportation will not be much of an issue. I've reached out to Russian and Ukrainian operators and I have a fleet of twenty Antonov An-124 Russians on call for the next calendar year and ready to transport whatever it may be. The Mriya can be made available to if necessary. Should be enough to augment your own transport."

"Christ, you certainly aren't sparing any cost. Well, they will have to move them from Everett, Washington so it will be a long flight. But hey, I can assure you that The Boeing Company will appreciate your business. What do you say I take you up to my office and we get some of that paperwork signed."

"Sounds good, we can also setup a time for me to see my new baby. Now a little birdie told me you had something interesting, tell me about the Colossi."


	6. Nightcrawler

_"One murder makes a villain, millions a hero. Numbers sanctify, my good fellow." Charlie Chaplin_

**AN; for the purposes of the plot the Fairmont is where the Royal Vauxhall pub in London is in real life.**

**Merry Christmas**

* * *

**February 2013**

* * *

Voldemort and Dumbledore dueled away in the Ministry Atrium and it seemed Dumbledore took the upper hand for a few seconds as Voldemort was visible only as a dark, rippling, faceless figure, trapped in Dumbledore's water orb. Then he was gone in a shockwave of magic, and the water fell with a crash back into its pool, slopping wildly over the sides, drenching the polished floor.

Believing it was over, sure Voldemort had decided to flee, Harry made to run out from his cover, but Dumbledore bellowed,

"Stay where you are, Harry!"

For the first time, Dumbledore sounded frightened. Harry could not see why as the danger had passed. The hall was quite empty but for themselves. Then Harry's scar burst in pain. He knew he was dead: it was pain beyond imagining, pain past endurance. He could feel his very blood boiling in his veins.

He was gone from the hall trapped in his mind held in the coils of a creature with red eyes, so tightly bound that Harry did not know where his being ended and the creature's began. They were fused together, bound by pain, and there was no escape. Then the creature spoke, using Harry's mouth as a puppeteer would his toy, even in his agony Harry was startled as his jaw moved without his command . . .

"Kill me now, Dumbledore. . ."

Blinded and dying, every part of him screaming for release, Harry felt the creature use him again. Dumbledore watched horrified as Harry's body twisted towards him eyes glowing with power with a slight red ring that seemed to be unsuccessfully trying to fight its way towards his iris.

"If death is nothing, Dumbledore, kill the boy. . ."

Let the pain stop, thought Harry. Let him kill us. . .

"End it, Dumbledore. . . Death is nothing compared to this. . ."

And I'll see Sirius again Harry thought. . .

As Harry's heart filled with emotion, the creature's coils loosened, and the pain receded. Voldemort appeared in his mind and the creature latched on to him, something he seemed oblivious to. Harry suspected it was a figment of his ailing mind. Lying facedown on the floor, his glasses gone, shivering as though he lay upon ice, not polished wood he began to remember magic he couldn't remember studying with shocking familiarity as they settled into muscle memory. Theories on how magic worked, applications of wandless magic, applications of occlumency, international and wizarding law. . . Then just a quickly as it began it ended.

A vortex of his power expelled itself from Harry as Voldemort and the creature were forced out of his mind. Despite the failed possession, Voldemort seemed pleased as he stood over him.

"So weak, so vulnerable. You are a fool Harry Potter, and you will lose. Everything."

"I pity you, 50 years and you failed to rule magical England. A lifetime of mutilating your soul and now you've lost, again."

"You jest, but I shall enjoy taking everything away from you before I kill you. Death will be a kindness I shall bestow upon you. After all you are old friends." With that Voldemort cackled as his face morphed into Harry's own. "They adore you, you know," Voldemort said with Harry's face.

Harry looked up immediately and observed his doppelganger, a reflection of himself, the sclera of his eyes entirely blacked out, wearing his full battle dress and an Atlas cloak draped above it. "How easy it would be to have them fawn over you, do your bidding at your merest wish. All you must do is ask" His reflection smiled back at him, coming closer so he could se his face. He looked only a few years older, but there was a gnarly scar that ran down his neck and disappeared under his collar.

"You aren't real," Harry said defiantly. "You don't matter."

"How is that possible? I am you. You are me. Destiny cannot be denied by those touched by the Endless ."

Suddenly a familiar voice hauled Harry out of his dreams. "Are you all right, Harry? Your pupils are huge."

"Yes, just a dream... memory. I was startled."

"A nightmare?"

"No, just a memory of a pyrrhic victory. I'm going to step out for a drink."

"Want me to come along?"

"No, it's fine."

* * *

It wasn't often Harry came back to London, as while the wizarding world had locked itself up from outside influence he felt it wasn't necessary to poke the sleeping troll that was the Ministry by inviting them to look into his affairs. Parking his McLaren outside of The Fairmont which housed his favorite pub, the Beaufort Bar. Taking a seat in the far corner he let the waitress take his order, the Impressionist. It always amused him to watch the nitrogen pour out of the glass reminding him of his former potions classes. He gave a quick glance at an attractive woman sat at a table in the center of the pub.

This was an unusual Thursday night for Ana as she drank her Martini. It was nearly eleven p.m., and the bulk of the after-work crowd was long gone, but she always worked late on Thursday, putting together reports that were both tedious and stressful. To reward herself for her efforts, she had developed the habit of popping in here at the Beaufort pub for dinner, drinks, and gossip, before heading to the Tube and her flat in the East End. She'd been keeping up this ritual for a year, and by now knew all the regulars at the Beaufort Bar, if not by name, at least by sight.

Tonight, however, there was a new face in the crowd, and Ana's work thoughts trailed off quickly as soon as she saw him walk through the door. He was a tall man in his late twenties or early thirties, in a stylish gray suit that said money and class, and even the conservative cut of his jacket could not hide the physicality of his body underneath.

He was alone, and he found a seat in the corner of the bar area, unscrewed the tiny teal light bulb on the table, and sat down in the low light.

When the waitress came by a moment later he ordered, and soon a pint of premium lager was delivered to him. He looked at his beer while he drank it, checked his phone a couple of times, but otherwise he seemed lost in deep thought.

His disinterest and brooding appearance only increased his stock with Ana, who watched him from across the room. By the time, he started on his second pint, the woman from Cortes Consolidated was halfway through her third. She was no shrinking violet; usually, she would leave her chair immediately when she saw a good-looking target she wanted in the pub unencumbered by either a date or a wedding ring, but she hesitated.

Though he did not look angry or cruel, there were no cues in his body language that gave any indication of approachability. As the evening wore on it became something of a challenge as she observed him. Taking a final sip of her liquor, giving it only a few seconds to kick in, she stood up and made her way across the room.

Harry saw the curly haired brunette coming from twenty paces.

"Shit", he mumbled to himself. "I'm not in the mood." He looked into the golden lager in front of him, willing the woman to lose her nerve before she arrived at his table.

"Hello there" She said. Harry was greatly disappointed in his powers of psychic suggestion, but not desperate enough to resort to legilimency. "I thought I'd come and check on you. You fancy a fresh drink? Or how 'bout a fresh light bulb?" she joked.

Harry looked up at her without making much eye contact. He smiled a little at her joke, doing his best to be polite without appearing overly friendly.

"How are you tonight?"

Ana smiled. "I felt like I hadn't seen you here before. I was trying to guess your story."

Harry looked back to his beer. He knew he should feel flattered, but he wasn't, not tonight.

"Not much of a story, really. I'm here visiting in the city for a few days from the states. Haven't been home in awhile."

She extended a hand. "Ana. Pleased to meet you." Harry looked into her eyes for a quick moment, and determined her to be not quite inebriated, but not terribly far from it.

He shook her hand. "I'm Harry."

Ana brushed her hair back over her shoulder. "I love America. Went over last year with my ex. Not ex-husband, no, nothing like that, just a bloke I dated for a while, before I realized what a narcissistic sod he was. A right bastard. Anyway, got a holiday out of him, at least, so he was good for something."

"That's nice. At least something came from it"

"Right! Where you from? Where do you call home?"

"Surrey actually, I move around pretty much to wherever work takes me, usually New York these days," he replied. She looked deeply into his eyes while he talked. Harry saw immediately that she registered a faint sense of recognition, and she was confused by this. She recovered and said, "That's East Coast, right? Near Washington, D.C. Haven't been to the East Coast. Me and my ex did the West Coast, quite loved San Francisco, but the traffic down in L.A. was bloody awful. Never did quite get used to driving on the right side of the—"

Ana's eyes widened suddenly, and she stopped talking.

Shit, Harry said to himself. Here we go.

"Oh . . . my . . . God."

"Please," said Harry, softly.

"You're Harry Potter."

"That's me."

"I don't believe it!"

Ana spoke louder this time, just below a shout. Harry reached out and gently took hold of her forearm.

"Ana. Please. I'd appreciate you not making a big deal out of it."

The redhead looked around the room quickly, seeing the attention her exclamation had attracted. Ana turned back to Harry and, with a conspiratorial nod, she said,

"Right. I understand. No problem. Your secret's safe with me."

"Thanks." The little miracles, Harry thought to himself again, but he smiled. Ana slipped into the booth, across from him. Damn.

They talked for a few minutes; she asked him a dozen rapid-fire questions about his life and what he was doing here and how it was that he was all by himself without any protection. He responded with short answers; again, he wasn't rude, he was simply trying to keep up with the Ana inquisition. She had conspicuously not pushed when he ducked around why he was alone or out so late. He learned how she became the sole heir of the Cortes Syndicate. Her parent's unfortunate death when she was 16 in a freak sinkhole accident left her emancipated and fabulously rich early in life. She remembered very little of her life before the accident and the event itself. Doctors claimed that while she had recovered from her injuries she was subconsciously repressing the trauma from the event. After dropping out of both Harvard and MIT she took to a more hands-on approach to her education and became one of the leading minds in the fields of robotics and nanotechnology.

"Harry . . . would it be forward of me to ask you if you'd like to go somewhere else where we can talk?"

Harry stifled a slight smile. "Yes. Though normally I would agree, but I have to get going."

"Oh, well . . . that's fine."

The young woman was taken aback, not sure what to make of the British wizards response. Before she could speak, Harry said, "I'm sorry. I've got a really early morning tomorrow. But you know, I think there's this little project of mine in your field of expertise you could help me with."

Ana said she understood, and looked intrigued by the following statement. Harry pulled out a small address book and red fountain.  
"Really, no phone?" Ana quipped as she took the pen.  
"Sometimes old school is better, can't better, can't be hacked."

"Can be stolen though." Not with anti-theft hexes Harry thought.

In reality the address book was the brainchild of one Ronald Weasley whose paranoia at times would have put off even Mad Eye. On the rear of each page of the address book was a magically binding contract written in demiguise blood, leaving it invisible to the naked eye. The pen was Hermione's improved version of the blood quill, it drew the blood far more subtly and expelled a liquid that resembled ink more than blood. A highly illegal piece of blood magic in Britain but it had been a long time since Harry had treated magical Britain's laws as more than annoying suggestions.

Once she was done Harry in turn took out a business card and scribbled his personal number on the back and handed it to her. She took it with a ecstatic smile

"I hope I can give you a call when you aren't too busy. I'd love for you to show me around town. Since you were born and raised here, and I could do worse for a tour guide."

"Sure. I'll give a call sometime soon."

"It's truly amazing what you do for the world Harry, helping people be healthier, live longer. Even some of the… shadier, things I've heard about Firebird, I can see. Why they're necessary." Ana said as he stood to leave

"Everyone is worth saving. Even the useless, even the demons. Everyone is worth saving in the face of darkness that has threatened our would as of late. Captain America fought against the darkness and was a beacon of light for the world. I believe there are some beings in the world you need to drag into the light and let the world judge them as they are. Even if sometimes I have to be the hand in the dark pushing them into the light."

"Well that wasn't cryptic at all," Ana whipped back sardonically. "But I think I understand."

"That project of mine will require us to fly out of town FYI."

"Not a problem, give me a call anytime Lovely to meet you, Harry."

"Likewise."

Ana reluctantly headed back to her table, and Harry finished of his drink. He slipped her card into his coat; removed his wallet and threw done a few bills. and left

As he left, Harry glanced toward Ana's table, and gave her a small smile.

* * *

Marcus Scarlotti could not believe his eyes. At first, he did not even think it was possible, but he was not mistaken.

The man in the overcoat was the Head of Atlas himself Harry Potter. He was on the list of individuals all agents were told to keep an eye out for. He could not create a panic as it would give him the opportunity to escape. Choosing to handle this quietly, and quickly he signaled his specialist unit into action. He gave the signal that he had spotted a possible target. Without another word, he commanded them to converge towards the entrance of the bar along the eastern walls of the lobby. As they drew closer, he recognized the woman watching Potter from within the pub.

Was that Cortes? Of The Syndicate? Here! Why? He raised his hand and closed his fist. All the members of her elite stopped, each giving her brief glances in her direction.

"Hispanic woman with brown hair standing by the door of the pub re-entering the pub...see her?" he whispered into his headpiece. "She's a possible high value hostages. Proceed with extreme caution. Neutralize the man with the black overcoat for questioning as soon as he is out of her sight. Engage the silencer on your weapons. We cannot have a panic in this close to the Secret Intelligence Service headquarters, that will end badly, understood?"

"All right...you tell us when." Agent Michael radioed back.

"I have a visual on both the target and non-hostiles. He's entering the water closet by the door. At this angle, I should be able to intercept and prevent further escalation of the situation. Do I have the green light?" Agent Collins responded.

"No. We need to get in close. We can't let him slip away. If you miss, that may be the sole chance we get."

"Understood- I'm ready when you are."

"Toro, use the cloaking device to follow him in and get in position at the northern corner, Collins and I'll enter from the doorway. Michael, you make sure no one enters after us, stand watch at the door," Scarlotti commanded as they approached the toilets. Collins and Scarlotti took positions at the doorway to the corridor leading down to the toilets. He knew there were two doors on the left, one for male and one for female, and on the right was probably a service closet for cleaning equipment. He could not see down the entire length of the narrow room without actually poking his head around the corner, but from what he could see, it was clear.

He nodded.

Scarlotti issued the command the three specialists to enter the corridor after seeing the door close behind Potter and Toro, Collins and Scarlotti taking either side of the 3-foot wide doorway. waited a few moments.

They entered only to find Toro slumped in the far corner against the wall, seemingly unconscious, possibly dead. Harry's muscles and magic were slightly strained as maintained his invisibility, hid his body signature from the snatch teams scanners and kept reapplying the charm allowing him to stand perpendicular to the wall above the door. Luckily for him the STRIKE agents rushed in quickly, just as Michaels took his position to guard the door there was the rustle of a coat as Harry dropped from his perch, landing right on top of Micheals, instantly knocking him out with a dull _thud_.

Scarlotti didn't hesitate as he leveled his weapon. Quick as he thought he was, the target was much faster. Potter spun away from the rifle yanking it out his grasp and ripping the strap of his chest, he launched it at Collins for it to connect brutally on his neck only to follow it up with blue energy beam catching him by surprise and that had Colins gasping before presumably falling unconscious. In another swift movement Potter took a hold of Scarlotti's wrist and grabbed his right hand, wringing his arm counter clockwise as he stepped behind him. Taking a firm grip on his collar Potter yanked hard on his neck while forcing him off balance using his right thigh. His body weight worked against him as he kicked away his right ankle, and caused his unbalanced tumble. Slightly releasing the collar eased the choke hold he had on him, he was forced back up against him, Potter effectively locked his left leg with his and wrapped his forearm around his neck, cutting off his air supply once again. His right hand came up and blocked his mouth, preventing any attempt to yell for assistance, not that he was inclined to. He struggled trying to reach his secondary weapon on his thigh, but the wizard simply put some pressure on the leg lock and on his neck at the same time and Scarlotti's struggles put more strain on his throat instead of effectively getting himself free.

"I did not come here to fight any of you," said a soft whisper at his ear.

It was the first time Scarlotti had the displeasure of hearing Harry's voice. It was deep, more composed, yet carried an undeniable death threat in it's calm whisper. A shiver ran down his spine as he realized that he was now helpless, caught in the grip of the world's finest warriors. His team was supposed to be amongst the 'Elite' already hyper-selective STRIKE (Special Tactical Reserve for International Key Emergencies). Yet they were taken out without even making a sound. Even though they were enemies, he had to commend Potter on his skill. It was so quick, he now understood why Fury had ordered his agents to stand down when it came to Potter, but Marcus had different orders from his real boss.

"You would have had me, had I been drunk and inattentive. But you have much to learn yet," he said artfully. "Seeing as I can't hold you like this forever…."

Harry brought him down with a simple hip toss. On his way down Marcus felt a sharp blow to the back of his neck and blackness took over. Scarlotti slumped to the floor and Harry gently let him fall so he didn't make any more noise than necessary. Listening to make sure he had not attracted any unwanted attention, he levitated the down operators towards the last stall. Opening it, he propped Marcus up inside, then went to retrieve his two fallen comrades. Locking them inside the tiny room, Harry wiped a single trail of perspiration off his face with the sleeve of his cloak. It was a long time he had broken out in a sweat.

Raising his hand to his ear Harry called into his earpiece, "Decima, send in a team, we have four guests looking for lessons in extraordinary rendition, no need for transfer tubes.

A female voice acknowledged his order. Taking a deep breath, exited the bathroom.

* * *

**Avenger's Tower**

* * *

"Sir, you asked me to inform you if anything unusual came up with the Atlas Corporation."

"Yes, what is it."

"Intelligence report's indicate several rockets have been launched from the islands of Cape Verde. They seem to be deploying a satellite network of some sort."

"They have space launch capabilities?"

"It would seem so sir."

"Maintain surveillance JARVIS and forward this to Black Beard and Cap, I'm sure SHIELD will be interested."


End file.
